Hooray! Hooray! Let’s have three cheers for those military students who are serving their country! Let’s just hope they find a way to do it more cheaply. The ROTC boondoggle at NIU employs one Lt. Col., three majors and two captains, in addition to a well-paid Sgt. Major. Multiply this by the number of colleges in the U.S. which have ROTC programs and how much is spent to pay, feed and house these highly-paid officers in civilian housing (much more expensive than housing on a military base) and you’ll have some idea of how much money is going down the tubes. On top of this, consider how few military skills a lot of these ROTC cadets probably possess. One cadet confided to me that few outside of the ROTC Rangers knew how to disassemble an M-16! It is easy to see how the taxpayers are getting that changed.

Indeed, I suggest that ROTC training be moved to military bases (Ft. Sheridan for instance), where these highly paid officers and non-commissioned officers can be housed and fed in government quarters.

If such a thing as this were done, there would be money for all students, not just those who put on a uniform.

Tom Rogers

John Lennon Society.